The present invention relates to a process for making a disposable wearing article including fastener means.
There have already been proposed the pants-type wearing articles such as disposable pants-type diapers having front and rear waist regions detachably connected to each other along respective opposite lateral margins thereof by releasable and reusable fastener means. For example, WO 01/87209 A1 (hereinafter referred to as “REFERENCE”) discloses a disposable training pants 500 and a process for making the same as illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10 of the accompanying drawings. In the pants 500, opposite lateral margins of a front waist region 522 are provided on the inner surface thereof with first fastening means 582 and opposite lateral margins of a rear waist region 524 on the outer surface thereof with second fastening means 584 adapted to cooperate with the first fastening means 582. The first fastening means 582 may be formed, for example, by hook-type fasteners and the second fastening means 584 may be formed, for example, by loop-type fasteners. During the production process illustrated in FIG. 10, a continuous chassis 532 defining an outer configuration of the pants 500 runs from the left-hand side toward the right-hand side as viewed in FIG. 10. The front waist region 522 is provided on its inner surface with a front waist elastic member 554 attached thereto and the rear waist region 524 is provided on its inner surface with a rear waist elastic member 554 attached thereto. On both sides of a boundary line 592 defined between each pair of the adjacent pants 500, the first fastening means 582 are attached to these adjacent pants 500, respectively, and then the chassis 532 is partially cut away between these adjacent first fastening means 582, 582 to form a gap 579. These adjacent front waist regions 522, 522 are provided on the respective inner surfaces with the second fastening means 584 detachably attached to the respective first fastening means 582 so that the second fastening means 584 straddle the gap 579. While not illustrated, the chassis 532 is folded back on itself with the inner surface inside and then the inner surfaces of the respective rear waist regions 524 are bonded to the respective second fastening means 584. Thereafter the chassis 532 is cut along the respective boundary lines 592 to obtain the individual pants 500 as shown in FIG. 9.
Referring to FIG. 10, the continuous chassis 532 is conveyed by an endless belt from the left-hand side to the right-hand side. While the chassis 532 is kept in close contact with the endless belt under a vacuum suction effect, the respective front waist regions 522 arranged in a machine direction by the intermediary of the gaps 579 may be affected by a tensile force generated as this chassis 532 runs toward the right-hand side as viewed in FIG. 10 and thereby may jolt out of alignment or twist depending on the manner in which the chassis 532 is held in close contact with the endless belt. Consequentially, there is a possibility that the respective front waist regions 522 might be irregularly shaped in the continuously produced individual pants 500. Compared to the case in which the chassis 532 having none of the front elastic members 554 attached thereto, in the case of the chassis 532 having the front elastic members 554 having previously been attached thereto, the possibility that the respective front waist regions 522 might be irregularly shaped will become more actual due to contraction of the elastic members 554 affect the chassis 532.